I’m not sure which forum to put this in. (presumably it has a factual answer, but it may be better for IMHO? Mods please feel free to move it where you think best).
I’m in town (Long Island, NY) from Berlin for just a few weeks and I have so much to plan and everything is so chaotic at the moment, that I’m hoping someone can help me with this one little piece of the plan. I need to go down to Goshen, NJ on Tues. (I think Atlantic City will get me close enough) to pick up a piece of music equipment for a gig, and to make the trip worthwhile I’d like to then visit friends in Baltimore, before returning to NY.
I know of cheap buses from Baltimore back to NY (Chinatown Bus, and I think there’s even one cheaper but that I can find out). But does anyone know offhand of the cheapest bus to AC from NY? and then a cheap bus from AC to Baltimore?
It’s been ages since I did this, but there used to be casino buses from the NY Port Authority to the AC casinos. They were designed as day trips, but nobody ever actually checked that you were coming back on the same trip you left on. As I remember the tickets were like $25 0r $30 RT, plus they gave you a voucher to cash in at the casino for chips. I used to see my grandparents this way for maybe $5 total when I was in college in NY and they lived near AC; buy the bus ticket, go get the chips in AC, cash them in, and leave, and nobody ever cared. Plus I generally got some kind of casino restaurant voucher, too, which I gave to my grandparents.
Sorry robert, it may not have been clear from my OP, but I’m from NY. I live in Berlin now but I come home every summer for a few weeks to visit family and friends. And I will be spending a couple of days in Phili as well seeing a good friend. I’m not looking for rail since that will far exceed the costs for buses. The problem with finding a bus though is that there seem to be so many competing private companies that I’d prefer to get some recommendations here than to blindly google.
This is actually exactly what I was thinking of. I was aware of something to this effect where you get chips (or a voucher) with your bus ticket which I’d be only to happy to go in and cash out. Even from a quick googling just now there are tons of companies. Anyone have any specific information on a particular one. (admittedly this is getting more into IMHO territory).
And the question about getting from AC to Baltimore is still open.
Well, a quick Google search indicates that there are Baltimore-to-Atlantic-City casino buses. So you need two tickets; one NYC-AC and a second AC-Baltimore.
The casinos are usually pretty crafty about making sure you actually gamble with free play vouchers. I did a Nevada hotel deal that came with “free play” once, and the catch was that you had to join their player’s club thing (which lets them track your playing) and then I think you also had to play it through a machine a certain number of times before they’d let you cash it out. So don’t automatically subtract the free play from the cost of the trip!
The casino buses are most likely going to be the cheapest way to AC. I know there are buses from Long island. You really won’t be choosing a specific bus company. You’ll be choosing a convenient pick up point ( often a Dunkin Donuts, newsstand , or travel agency) and buying a ticket from whichever company they deal with.
A link with some info AllTrails: Trail Guides & Maps for Hiking, Camping, and Running | AllTrails
Thanks all for the info, but umm… I think I screwed up. :o
So I just asked this dude (who I’m buying this piece of music equipment from) if he wouldn’t mind meeting me in AC and he replied that AC is 3 hours south of him. I’m guessing he’s actually in Goshen, NY. :smack:
Anyone have any recommendations for a cheap way to get from LI to Goshen, NY?
Well, this isn’t the case with the NY-Atlantic City buses, or at least it wasn’t as of ten years ago which is the last time I took this bus. If you want, you can take the voucher directly to the clerk and get your (approximately) seven bucks without taking more than two steps in the casino.
You’ve already paid them $20 for the bus trip. They don’t care too much about the $7 they give back to you. (These are ~2001 prices, it may have gone up or down since then. In fact, there is so much more bus competition, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s gone down a bit.)
Ask him if he can meet in Harriman, NY. It’s 20 minutes from Goshen, and it’s a stop on the Port Jervis Metro North line. Sadly, that Metro North ticket will probably cost the same as a bus to AC.
ETA: And note that the Port Jervis Metro North line runs from Hoboken, not Manhattan. That’s important!
I think in the end he will most likely meet me in Manhattan.
(there is a 2nd possible scenario: I was actually born in Middletown and lived near Monticello when I was young. My mom was feeling nostalgic so we may take a ride up there together).